Hou Hanru is a Chinese art curator and critic who lives in United States since 2006.
He received degrees from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 and moved from China in 1990. He lived 16 years in France before moving to America in 1990. He works at San Francisco Art Institute

San Francisco Art Institute

San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...

 as Director of Exhibitions and Public Program and Chair of Exhibition and Museum Studies. He has curated numerous exhibitions including "Cities On The Move" (1997 - 2000), Shanghai Biennale

Shanghai Biennale

The Shanghai Biennale is the highest-profile contemporary art event in the city and the most established art biennale in China.Aside from its main museum show, it also includes talks, lectures and installations in various venues throughout the city....

 (2000), Gwangju Biennial (2002), Venice Biennale

Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...

 (French Pavilion, 1999, Z.O.U. -- Zone Of Urgency, 2003, Chinese Pavilion, 2007), Nuit Blanche (2004, Paris), the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial (2005), the 2nd Tirana Biennial (2005), the 10th Istanbul Biennial

Istanbul Biennial

The International Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition, held every two years in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The biennial is organised by the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. The Biennial aims to create a meeting point in İstanbul in the field of visual arts between artists...

 (2007), "Global Multitude" (Luxembourg 2007), "Trans(cient)City" (Luxembourg 2007), EV+A 2008 (Limerick), etc.

He has been consultant in many international institutions including Walker Art Center

Walker Art Center

The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...

 (Minneapolis), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...

 (New York), Kumamoto Museum of Contemporary Art (Kumamoto, Japan), De Appel Foundation (Amsterdam) etc. and served in juries of many international awards including the Hugo Boss Prize

Hugo Boss Prize

The Hugo Boss Prize is awarded every other year to an artist working in any medium, anywhere in the world. Since its establishment in 1996, it has distinguished itself from other art awards because it has no restrictions on nationality or age...

 (Guggenheim Museum), Chinese Contemporary Art Award (Beijing), Ars Fennica (Helsinki), etc.

He has also taught and lectured in various educational institutions including Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten

Rijksakademie

The Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten is a two-year residency for visual artists, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Funded by the Dutch government, residents are granted a stipend and are allotted a personal studio in the former military barracks building in which the Rijksakademie is housed...

(Amsterdam), etc.

A selection of his writings was published as "On The Mid-Ground" by Timezone 8, 2002.